Australian unemployment rate worst in 40 years

By IANS |Posted 01-Sep-2014

Canberra: More than 15 percent of the Australians are unemployed, the highest level in nearly 40 years, a new research released Monday revealed.

A study from the Brotherhood of St. Laurence welfare group has found more than 300,000 young Australians have casual or part-time jobs but want either more work or full-time positions, Xinhua reported.

The group's spokesman, Tony Nicholson, said that the figure combined with those who are officially unemployed adds up to more than 580,000 young people.

Nicholson said that youth unemployment was around 14 percent, and those who do manage to get work are finding it difficult to obtain full-time employment.

"Over half of the jobs that young people are getting are casual in nature," he said.

"Some work is better work than no work, particularly as it gives some work experience. But it does leave them in pretty tenuous circumstances from week to week, particularly for the young people who don't have the support of family and we know that across Australia there's about 40,000 of those," Nicholson added.